'Moms' Night Out' Stars Talk Thrills & Spills of Parenthood

By DAVID WEINER

May 07, 2014

Sarah Drew, Sean Astin and Patricia Heaton put the thrills and spills of parenting in the spotlight with their brand-new family comedy Moms' Night Out, in theaters Friday, and the stars tell ETonline that much of the film's comedy comes from connecting with the truth -- and pain -- of raising children...

"Comedy comes out of pain," observes Patricia, mother to four boys, "and there's this weird thing [about acting] -- you have to be able to do pain, but it's not that painful; there's a balance where it'll tip over into drama, and [Sarah] is such a wonderful actress, she knows how to do pain, but keep it in the funny zone."

"I wanted to tell a story about parenthood because it was so completely life-changing in every way [for me]," says Grey's Anatomy star Sarah, who is the proud parent of a two-year-old. Meanwhile, Sean has three girls of his own, and Patricia boasts that he's "the most lovable, sympathetic husband ever" who has ruined it for every other man in the country.

In Moms' Night Out, Sarah plays a harried mom who, along with her girlfriends, simply needs a kid-free zone of peaceful, grown-up dinner and conversation. But her long-needed moms' night out quickly begins to derail as real life sets while the husbands grapple with the challenge of holding down the fort with the kids for one simple night.